


Skating Past Uncertainty

by radlovejoy



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: Getting Together, Jeremy is shit at skating, M/M, Michael isn’t, boyf riends secret santa, roller skating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-25
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2019-02-20 03:23:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13138044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/radlovejoy/pseuds/radlovejoy
Summary: Jeremy Heere is terrible at skating, but the couple’s skate at the local rink can change everything.





	Skating Past Uncertainty

**Author's Note:**

  * For [coltonthewizzer](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=coltonthewizzer).



It was always breathtaking to see Michael like this. To have the privilege of watching him dart around the dinky and dimly lit skating rink was a slightly religious experience. It almost felt unfair to be apart from him, but Michael deserved to get at least a couple songs to himself before he returned to Jeremy, who was comfortably moving at a snail’s pace, occasionally (constantly) holding onto the wall. 

When the current song finished– some sort of electronic pulsing madness– Michael skated languidly back towards Jeremy. In the flashing lights, he wasn’t exactly sure if Michael looked more like an angel or a demon. It was an otherworldly vision anyways. 

“Hey,” Michael said, slightly out of breath from the exertion. He ran his hand through his hair and Jeremy’s eyes caught on the shimmer of sweat on his neck, which was from him absolutely refusing to ever take off his sweatshirt while skating. It was probably for some bullshit aesthetic. Maybe he was going for the ‘glistening god’ look. He was pulling more of a ‘very attractive with seemingly effortless disarray’ sort of vibe, though. Jeremy appreciated it either way. 

“Hi...” Jeremy said a beat too late, blinking to distract himself from Michael. He’d been having to do that more often lately. Before, his dumb crush was definitely crushed and smothered by his persistent infatuation with Christine. After he and Christine awkwardly petered out into oblivion, his crush on Michael made a full resurgence. 

He and Christine still talked, and it was wonderful to hang out with her, but Jeremy had an inkling of a suspicion that he had forced himself into liking her. There were people you had crushes on, and they were nice to look at from a distance, but that was just it. 

Their relationship, on the superficial level, was amazing and awesome. Deeper down, Jeremy didn’t have the same connection, and it felt selfish and terrible and cowardly because he was too afraid to date Christine, but he was absolutely terrified of breaking up with her. So it had been a long, drawn out month of avoiding each other until Christine confronted him and broke up with him. He was secretly relieved, and he hated himself. 

It had been about four months since the breakup. They had slowly pieced their friendship back together, and it was actually fun being around her without worrying about a misplaced crush. He had totally dove deep into the acting scene and was really enjoying it. He had, surprisingly, increased his skills a lot. 

Even though he’d been getting better at acting, his skating abilities certainly left much to be desired. Even though he and Michael had probably gone skating hundreds of times, Jeremy still sucked. He was a master of wall clinging. It was pathetic, if not slightly impressive. Still, Michael skated next to him, accepting his elderly pace. They had been skating in silence, with the sounds of the rest of the rink settling in between them. 

Jeremy coughed, breaking the quiet between them. As Michael looked over at him, he said, “Do you want to go get food?”

“Uh, yeah, sure,” Michael replied, skating toward the exit of the rink. He reached it quickly, and turned around to smile at Jeremy, who was still creeping along. “Why don’t you ever let go of the wall, dude?”

Jeremy smiled pleasantly up at him, “Because I could fucking die.” With that, he finally left the rink and half-walked half-skated to the table with their stuff. He rummaged around his coat for his wallet and stood when he found it. 

Michael carefully pushed him back down, “I can get it for you, what do you want?”

“Um? Fries and milkshake? I guess?”

“‘Aight I’ll be back.”

“Cool,” Jeremy said, watching Michael’s retreating figure. If he ignored any plane of reality, he could pretend that this was a date. Alas, Jeremy was probably too lame for Michael and would perish alone with forty-seven cats. It was great, he was good. He looked around and tapped a beat against the tabletop as he waited. 

Jeremy had just begun taking off his skates when Michael arrived with the food. There was about half an hour left of the session, and if Michael went back to skate, Jeremy could probably just hang on the outside of the rink and talk briefly if the other slowed down enough as he passed. 

“You done?” Michael asked as he set down the shake in front of him. He snatched a few of the fries and ate them as he waited for a reply. 

“Yeah, I’ll probably just watch you skate if you go back.” Jeremy pulled the fries closer to him and started dipping them into his shake after taking off his skates. After eating a few, he reached for his wallet, tossing five dollars to Michael. 

He underestimated their distance, and the money hit Michael’s hand, which was outstretched for his fried pickle. He ignored the money and took a bite of the pickle. “You can pay me back next time, dude,” he said after he swallowed, flicking the bill away from him. 

“Okay, man.”

When Jeremy finished his fries and shake, Michael seemed to be done as well, standing up gracefully in his skates. When Jeremy stood up, his entire body felt weird as he moved, trying to get used to not desperately balancing on wheels. 

Jeremy looked at Michael, then blinked when he realized he was really close to him. And also staring at Michael’s chin. Without any skates, Jeremy and Michael were basically on the same level, with the latter being slightly taller. With only Michael having skates, it felt like he basically towered over him. 

Jeremy took a couple steps back and shoved his shoes onto his feet. As he got back up, he caught the end of a glance from Michael. It was too quick to properly decipher, but Jeremy could see the fondness in his gaze. Even he blushed, Jeremy forced his mind to repeat the word ‘friendship’ over and over again as a mantra to calm the stupid, fast paced beat of his heart. 

They made their way back over to the rink, quietly chatting about the shitty, overplayed music blaring through the speakers. Michael glided back into the rink, and with a dashing grin, sped off. He was clearly showing off, skating backwards and zooming past the other skaters. Jeremy held his hand out every time Michael passed, and he could feel his face flush every time he high-fived him. This was dumb. He needed to find someone else to get a crush on, because Michael would probably never go for him. 

After Michael sped around the rink for awhile, he stopped in front of Jeremy. Michael was pressed flat against his side of the wall to avoid being hit by other skaters, and Jeremy pressed closer as well. The cold concrete made him shiver. Definitely not the proximity to Michael. Nope. 

Jeremy hid back his feelings with a smirk, “You are such a fucking show off.”

Michael grinned, his chest slightly heaving from his past speed, “You know you love it.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Jeremy said flippantly, “but-“

Whatever he was about to say next was interrupted by the announcer guy in the booth at the left corner of the rink, “Okay, ladies and gentlemen, it’s time to link up or leave the rink! The next two songs are for the,” he paused for dramatic effect, “couple’s skate!” Michael frowned and slid off the rink, leaning against Jeremy’s side of the wall as a song blasted through the speakers. He was really close again. Cool. 

“What were you saying?” Michael asked. Did he get closer?

“Uh. I don’t know.” Jeremy said stupidly. He crept closer. 

Michael hummed, “I think the couple’s skate thing is dumb.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, I mean, it sucks when you’re here with the one person you’d like to date, but they’d definitely never go out with you.” It seemed as though Michael was caught up in the moment, because as soon as he finished his sentence, he blushed a dark red. 

“Um, well-“ Jeremy froze as his voice cracked, “I’m in the same boat. Bro.”

Michael clearly wasn’t expecting that, “What? But you’re just here... with... me...” He dragged out his sentence, and even though the answer was pretty fucking clear, Jeremy pressed somehow even closer. 

“I, like, uh, like-like you, dumbass.” 

“Um, me too. Like you. That is.” Michael’s eyes were wide and Jeremy smiled. They were so damn awkward. 

He stood up on his tiptoes, vaguely annoyed by the new and unnecessary height difference, and kissed him. It was quick and quiet and even though Jeremy had kissed Brooke and Christine in the past, he still didn’t know what to do with his fucking hands. Neither did Michael, so it was fine. Michael didn’t taste like anything– Thank god, Jeremy hated pickles– but there was a little bit too much saliva involved. 

When Jeremy leaned back and opened his eyes, Michael hadn’t, so he discreetly wiped his lips. The other’s eyes fluttered open, and he grinned, running a hand through his hair. He looked really excited, and Jeremy was completely sure he looked the same. It was dorkily endearing. 

“So,” Michael cleared his throat, “um, wanna head out?”

Jeremy’s eyes flicked to the clock planted on the wall next to the announcer. There was still fifteen minutes left of the session. “Totally.”

They collected their things and walked out hand in hand. Somehow, through all of that, the couple’s skate was still going on behind them.

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Holidays coltonthewhizzer !! This fic has been a trip, I swear,, I was trying to write a diff version of this all month, then I gave up on it two days ago and made this one lol, hope you enjoy dude !


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